Projects

Royal Academy of Bhangra is dedicated to creating new dynamic events that are culturally relevant and exciting. This is a little sample of some of the amazing projects we have been a part of.

Is there project that you’d like to collaborate with us? Get in touch.

RAB Projects

2019

2019

Folk Lok Live 2019 (Borderless)

Borderless is a celebration of pre-partition Punjab. Before invisible lines laid down by the British divided Punjabi’s, we lived together, we laughed together, we cried together and were a part of each others story. Our daily lives, our daily rituals, our traditions and our dreams were rooted in the same soil. Our love stories carried the same sweetness, our struggles shed the same tears, our songs told the same stories and our bodies moved to the same beats.

Seventy years after partition and oceans away, Punjabi’s in the Diaspora still have Punjab imprinted on our souls. We experience the pull of the land, feel the whispers of breeze from the fields and hear gentle the laughter of waves on the banks of the rivers. What we forget is that we share the same sweet memories with our neighbours.

The Punjabi Spirit doesn’t recognize state lines that divide, it still dances to the same dhol and tumbhi on both sides of the border. Through the beauty of Waris Shah’s Heer and Bulleh Shah’s poetry, the movements of Jhoomar and Jugni, and the sound of the dhol, tumbhi and bugchu; we honour the Spirit and the brotherhood of our forefathers by exploring our identity, our culture and our history pre-partition.

Artistically curated by Vijay Yamla, grandson of legendary Ustaad Lal Chand Yamla Jatt and Hardeep Singh Sahota of Royal Academy of Bhangra, and MC’d by Mo Dhaliwal. In a time that there is so much division and discrimination, so much hate and mistrust; Folk Lok Live: Brotherhood will spread the message of love and unity. We will come together and share our stories and let that imprint on our Soul shine and our Spirit dance together.

Supported by:

Govt of Canada – Govt of BC – BC Arts – City of Vancouver – City of Surrey

Folk Lok Live 2018

Folk Lok Live The warrior’s drums and the bhangra dancer’s dhol… the sweet sounds of the fancy shawl dance and the love story of Saami… all in one magical night called Folk Lok Live. Watch the magic that happened as we connected two beautiful cultures and came together as brother’s through music, dance and storytelling.

Supported by

Govt of Canada

Govt of British Columbia

City of surrey

Community partners

VIBC

I learn school

Sky Rocket

Cloverdale Fuel

Amira Health

Media partners

Channel Punjabi

Red Fm

Sawraj Radio

2018

UBC Bhangra Project in Surrey Elementary Schools

2017 – 2018

2017

2017

BC Multicultural Awards

BC Highland Games & Scottish Festival

2017

Folk Fusion

Stories of Celebration: All the best bits from Folk Fusion 2017! We hope you enjoyed the annual folk fusion event. This iconic event was built around the idea of celebrating arts, culture and diversity.

Business for the Arts

VIBC’s Business of Culture Fundraiser

Valentine Edition

Vaisakhi Mela

Phoenix, AZ

2016

Peace Arch Hospital Vaisakhi Celebration

White Rock, BC

2016

South Pointe School Multicultural Night

2016

City of Richmond Bhangra Workshop

2015

2015

VIBC – TransFusion 2015

Surrey, BC.

TransFusion 2015 has always been about pushing boundaries and taking artistic liberties. This year, VIBC is excited to partner up with Hardeep Singh Sahota from Royal Academy of Bhangra who guided all the artists Vanessa Goodman, Stu Iguidez, Dayna Szyndrowski, and Jacky Yenta about Punjabi Folk Dances.

Together, we present bhangra abstracted — elements of the dance movements, the music, the instruments, the language — seen through a new and unique lens. This is our opportunity to get weird, to explore, and to excite you with an innovative performance, blending and creating new pieces in partnership with local artists. Art has no boundaries, and through TransFusion, VIBC continues to break through the silos and explore new possibilities for cross-cultural understanding.

VIBC – Songs of Revolution

VIBC’s vision is to create an inclusive community for all through celebration and the joy of bhangra. On March 19, we invite you to attend an extraordinary event at Surrey City Hall, connecting revolutionary Ghadar poetry to elements of folk bhangra performance.

Sponsored by Hari Sharma Foundation, and hosted by Bali “Lady B” Deol of Swaraj Radio, Songs of Revolution includes discussion, dance, poetry, and music inspired by the Ghadar movement, undertaken in the 1900s in Canada, the US, and India by Indians seeking their freedom from the British Raj.

Songs of Revolution takes place in four parts, each in its own way illuminating aspects of a movement that shaped—and continues to shape—the lives of so many individuals and families here in Canada and abroad. To open the evening, local community members and academics will introduce the Ghadar movement and explore its significance today. Then Royal Academy of Bhangra will present a ten-minute performance set to poetry describing scene-by-scene the story of the Ghadarites’ call for India’s independence. This will be followed by recitations of Ghadar poetry by local poets, authors, and scholars such as Sohan Singh Pooni, Jasmin Chahal, Sandeep Singh, Kalwant Singh Nadeem Parmar, and Amal Rana. The evening concludes with a short reception sponsored by Nanak Foods, to which everyone is invited to socialize and share more poetry in an informal setting.

Freedom is not obtained by begging By appeals political power is not won Do not petition like cowards Take the sword and they will run

Ghadar Poem

This event is presented by VIBC. Many thanks to sponsor Hari Sharma Foundation; to supporters Swaraj Radio 96.1FM, Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Policy Studies on Culture and Communities, Simon Fraser University Surrey, Nanak Foods, and Royal Academy of Bhangra; and to all of our event participants, performers, and volunteers.

VIBC – City of Bhangra 2014: Transfusion

An exhilarating start to the Festival, led by MC and beatboxer Rup Sidhu and choreographed by Hardeep Sahota, with performances by Native Thunder Productions, JCC Shalom Dancers, Now or Never Crew, Leela Dance, and the Royal Academy of Bhangra, all accompanied by Karnveer Bhuller on Dhol. This event was a unique opportunity to experience First Nations, Jewish, Hip-Hop, and Garba dancers creating intercultural mash-ups by blending bhangra moves with their own indigenous folk traditions. Opening Reception catered by Nanak Foods. Presented with support from Canada Council for the Arts.

Step to the Beat Cancer Foundation

2014

SFU Diwali Gala

Choreographer and Performer

2013

2013

VIBC – HSBC City of Bhangra 2013: rePercussion

HSBC Canada sponsored the City of Bhangra festival in Vancouver, a show which presents artists, music and singers from around the world. To coincide with this, a group of employees, some with no dance training, decided to put together their own team to perform at the festival.

With a group that represents gender, culture and generational diversity, meet the HSBC bhangra dancing team. Choreographed By Hardeep Singh Sahota.

VIBC – HSBC City of Bhangra 2012

HSBC Canada sponsored the City of Bhangra festival in Vancouver, a show which presents artists, music and singers from around the world. To coincide with this, a group of employees, some with no dance training, decided to put together their own team to perform at the festival.

With a group that represents gender, culture and generational diversity, meet the HSBC bhangra dancing team. Choreographed By Hardeep Singh Sahota.